Wild Gopher

i am an on road enthusiast who is now looking into stepping over to the dark side. I just cant decide what is better, the HPI savage or the T-maxx. Can someone please fill me in on details on why either one is better. Also, which one has cheaper priced replacement parts.?

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

sigh.. here we go again...

http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...78&forumid=216

go there, not that you knew, but Jus dont want this to get into another huge flame war of people constantly repeating themselves about why they prefer what htey do.. which is usually because it is what htey own.

Also check out the april(?) maybe march, RC Nitro, they did a comparison of the Tmaxx 2.5 vs the Savage. The Tmaxx BARELY finished out ahead. Hope this and that link helps..

Wild Gopher

seems like either way i think im gonna buy a used one, preferably something that has been modded and upgraded. alot of people buy them, fix them up, then get bored of them, thats where i come into play

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

You're better off to buy new, mainly because the resale value on these is just about as good as the NIB price.

badboy2

My Feedback: (13)

eah its better ifu buy anew one cause u dont know what happened to the truck's engine ,or how they used it and also the way they broke it in..thats why ended up buying a new one ..i was thinking of buying a used one before..btw i got the not so famous terra crusher just last january..goodluck and happyhunting

LandShark

go to a LHS to see both truck.

see the actual trucks

nokaoiken

My brother has recently purchased a TMaxx and his opinion is that they are fast and light duty. He has had to replace quite a few parts that have broken in the 3 weeks that he has had it. I just bought a Savage and it is slower and heavier but will take more abuse. I don't plan on racing, but if I did there are parts avail.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

to each his own, jus get what you prefer and what suites you best

Letsskydive

BUy a savage if you want the best all around deal
Buy a t-maxx if you want to go fast but after you are down buy all the parts for what you break just to go fast it will add up to a new engine to make you go fast with a savage

i8tweety

My Feedback: (11)

I've stayed out of this debate as long as I could. T-Maxx vs. Savage is just like Ford vs. Chevy.

The T-Maxx has flaws. The Savage has flaws. Neither is perfect.

Often, the term "abuse" comes up. What exactly is abuse? Is launching a truck 4 feet in the air abuse? It is for an RC10GT, Losi XXX-T, rustler, clodbuster, grasshopper, etc.

Taking a T-Maxx and launching it 4 feet in the air and having it survive in tact is truly amazing to me. The fact any vehicle can do it all day long was fantacy only a few years ago.

If you keep raising the stakes until it breaks, of course you are going to have to buy parts. That's common sense.

Before buying a Savage, T-Maxx, Terra Crusher, Mad Force, etc. decide how, where, and how abusive you are going to be.

I believe in use, not abuse. I don't like to see how far I can push something before it breaks. I buy things that can handle what I plan on doing with it. For me, getting a couple of feet of air, climbing hills, timing woops, crushing old bodies, etc is where it's at. Any of the modern monsters are great for that.

If you are like me, check out the chassis layout for ease of cleaning and maintenance. I find the "frying pan" of the T-Maxx the easiest to work with.

Wookie

My Feedback: (5)

I agree with "i8tweety", you must first ask yourself what you will be using the truck for. I own a TMaxx 2.5 and have seen numerous Savage's at the local track. Both perform equally well and anybody that try's to tell you that there is a vast difference between either one, I would question the validity of their statement. I had a lot of expectations built up about the Savage based upon the reviews that I read on this message board, having not seen a Savage until recently. When I did see the Savage I was somewhat disappointed. Many here will have you believe it's the best thing since sliced bread, but in all reality the performance between the Savage and TMaxx is very similar.

Both trucks can be made to go very fast, both can jump very high and very far, both are very durable with in reason and both will end up with thousands of hop up parts.

Both trucks (all of them actually but since it's a Savage/TMaxx question I'll stick to these) will also break. Each person has their own definition of durability. For some it's whether a truck will take 15 foot drops all day, if it doesn't it's crap. For others it's track time, will it handle tumbles and bad landings on a continual basis that are not huge just numerous.

So far I have used my TMaxx for both outdoor bashing and have had a fair amount of track time with it. The bashing included lots of rough terrain with some minor jumping and a lot of open field speed.

The track time included lots of jumping 6-7 feet of air with flat landings, triples and numerous launches into the wall (it's an indoor track), nose dive landings and an occasional landing on it's top. To this point I've broken the front bulkheads (where the bumper attaches to them), broken several body posts, broke the front differential (broke the screws holding part of it together) and bent the lower front hing pins. The truck has taken a lot of abuse and continues to run very well.

The Savages I've seen have held up well but I've seen them with broken A-Arms and various other front suspension pieces. I've also seen a few broken dog bones. The Savage's handled well (in the hands of a good driver) and took a lot of abuse.

For me the decision came down to several things as it should for you. The TMaxx came with reverse, an electric starter stock, has a proven track record and already has lots of hop ups available. The savage was bigger, new (not everybody has them), an ever increasing supply of hop ups, a .21 stock and a reverse option. I choose the reverse stock (I got tired of chasing after my RC10GT when it got stuck), electric start (works very well in my opinion) and large supply of hop ups and replacement parts at my LHS.

It's all a matter of personal opinion and what you like to do. They have different platforms but perform very similarly in most aspects.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

The never ending debate... this is going to end up like Nitro Vs Electric.

LandShark

go to a LHS to see both trucks.

make sure you see the sctual things

Wild Gopher

i really want to be able to use this for both local track racing and just good ol bashing. I am kinda on a budget thats why i started looking at used ones. I will go to my LHS and check out both of them and decide from there. I may go with a new one depending oon the funds. Thanks for all the help and opinions

rcidiot728

please not another...

BOTH trucks are good, BOTH trucks will break eventually, BOTH trucks are race proven

im startin to thing the only difference between the two is the way they look

JWash1

It's YOUR choice, Dodge, Ford or Chevy. OOPS, Wrong Forum...
It's Your choice, Traxxas, HPI or Tamiya. They are all Great. Did I leave out Ofna, Kyosho, etc.............?

Wild Gopher

well i took some advice and went to several hobby shops and did some comparison. i ended up going with the Savage for a few reasons. The main reason was the engine. Stock .21 sounded better than .15, plus to put a BB engine in a Tmaxx costs more money to do the upgrade. Now its time to break it in, thanks for all the input

LandShark

good and right choice

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

wrong one IMO.. .21's are jus a waste unless its a novi or something jus 2 slow (then again i want speed) savage wont get the air i would want.. My emaxx would beat a savage

LandShark

would your E-maxx beat a hyper 21 8 port savage?

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

yes it probably would lol

creeping death

dream on!

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

specially if i got a BL system in it, it'd turn that savage into a pup on a leash.

grampi

Here's my take. If you want fast, go with the T-Maxx. If you want big, go with the Savage. Both are tough. Someone said earlier both were close in terms of performance. I'm not quite sure what that was in reference to, but I've read the Savage has a radar confirmed top speed of 31 mph. The T-Maxx does in excess of 40 mph. To me, that's not close. Both vehicles have a plethera of parts available for them, but the T-Maxx has more parts available for it than any RC vehicle in the history of the hobby.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

I was talking about overall performance grampi but ya the savage barely stays with an emaxx when it comes to speed!